Three years ago, Rashod Bateman was a wide receiver prospect out of Tifton, Georgia, with no scholarship offers, when he received his first from head coach P.J. Fleck at a satellite camp. He committed on the spot, and told 247 Sports’ Steve Wiltfong: “Today was just the day.”
Today is the day, as well, for Bateman, as he announced this morning that he plans to opt out of the 2020 fall football season amid uncertainty regarding the safety and health of student-athletes during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, Bateman will begin preparing for the 2021 NFL Draft, and the expectation is that he will be the Gophers’ first first-round draft pick since 2006.